Faithfull Ale is a celebration of Pearl Jam's 20th anniversary as a band and its extraordinary debut album, "Ten." In recognition of these milestones, this Belgian-style golden ale is delicately hopped to 20 IBUs and fruit-forward from 10 incremental additions of black currants over a one-hour boil. Faithfull clocks in at 7% ABV.

Faithfull Ale--brewed to celebrate Pearl Jam's twentieth anniversary and their album Ten--opens with a rich, yeasty nose, smelling of fresh baked wheat breads, mixed with toast crusts and wet wheat stalks. The nose is almost entirely grain and bread, but thin threads of sugar do come through in the form of light grapefruits, touches of brown sugar, and the faintest hint of currants, the latter lending a barely perceptible currant jam overtone to the aromas. As a whole the nose is decent, but not necessarily revelatory or enticing in the way that many Dogfish Head beers are, and is perhaps overly-heavily grain-based.

On the tongue, the beer opens with the same grain-based flavors as were present in the nose--fresh wheat breads, toast crust, biscuit--but a better blend of sugars comes through, providing touches of brown sugar and wildflower honey to the brew. The currants are so intricately blended into the flavor profile as to be hardly noticeable, and instead of standing out as overpowering monoliths, add a subtle berry sweet/tartness to the brew. Had I not known that currents were added, in fact, I would have attributed these flavors to the hops and malts. Late in the mouthful, as the sugars die off, the beer becomes more grainy, tasting like fresh wheat stalks and hay straw, though enough sweetness remains to counter the earthiness. The aftertaste is a continuation of these latter flavors, and lingers for a decent time, becoming more grain-based as it ages. Mouthfeel is medium-light to medium, and carbonation is medium.

Overall, while this is good beer, it's just that: "good" beer. It's not "great," largely because it lacks any remarkable or distinguishing characteristics, such as many of Dogfish Head's other offerings. Even the currants, despite the fact that they were added in "10 incremental additions" during the one-hour boil, don't make a marked presence, and simply blend with everything else. This doesn't mean that the beer is not worth trying, but it does mean that you shouldn't approach this expecting the same revelatory mindbending experience that was Pearl Jam's Ten. Instead, it's just a decent brew. (2,151 characters)

I like the story of how this beer came to be: DFH asked Pearl Jam what they usually drink and the answers they got back were cheap mexican beer and sweet pinot nior. What do you do with that? I was always confused how a belgian golden with currants would represent Pearl Jam, I would expect something with aggressive hops, but the backstory helps.

This is a nicely made beer with a nice creamy mouthfeel and a refreshing quality from the nice belgian malts and sweet fruit. Its very drinkable and doesn't seem like 7% abv which is a compliment.

The price tag on this one, and availablity, do not make it a frequent drinker but I'm glad I tried it. (651 characters)

Big glowing apricot bright orange body with an off white creamy colored head with a fluffy billowing texture. The body was slightly clouded and the head formed fine even lacing as it dwindled. I remember Au Courant never quite taking off, and all of a sudden we have a new 7% abv currant beer. The nose has a dry powdered yeast note that falls flat, a bit of a mineral character with some mild earthiness. The nose isn't very expressive with the currant fruitiness/tartness I was expecting. Flavor is actually pretty nice with a mix of sweet malt and tart fruit currants mixing together, with a wave of warmth in the alcohol and a dry Belgian yeast finish. Not much in the way of spices or yeast spiciness. There is a texture/flavor that I just don't care for amongst the currant jam sweetness that almost has a milky powdered crushed calcium tablet note about it. Mouthfeel is medium bodied moderate carbonation, something in texture weighs on the palate between each sip making it more and more difficult to quaff on. Overall this beer lacks cohesive flavors that would be expressive of such a great and timeless band like Pearl Jam. Maybe they were going for a currant jam, but I feel this beer was a rehash of an old release with less creativity behind than their other album releases like Bitches Brew or Hellhound on my Ale. (1,330 characters)